ATHENS -- A new University of Georgia study suggests that health agencies investigating salmonella illnesses should consider untreated surface water as a possible source of contamination.

Researchers, whose results appear in the March issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, tested water over a one-year period in rivers and streams in a region of south Georgia known for its high rate of sporadic salmonella cases. The team found salmonella in 79 percent of water samples, with the highest concentrations and the greatest diversity of strains in the summer and after rainfall.

Stand-up parenting is a rare thing these days, and if my ears are properly set to the ground, becoming rarer all the time. Parents stand up when they prove to their children they mean exactly what they say. By so "meaning," they become, in their children's eyes, "mean." Such was the case with a school-age boy who recently learned a valuable lesson in the hardest of ways.

Did you know that newborn babies have many teeth already formed and hidden from view in their jawbones? The first of these teeth (the four front teeth) usually come in around 6 months of age, and most children have a full set of primary teeth by the time they're 3 years old. As children grow out of the toddler stage, their jaws are also growing, making extra room for larger permanent teeth.

Last week, we talked about heart disease. You may remember that high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease, but there is plenty we can do to combat high blood pressure. Poor diets and lack of exercise increase the heart's workload, causing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and the heart to thicken and become stiffer.

A recent column in which I said that behavior modification does not work on human beings stirred things up a bit. Not surprising, given that today's parents think discipline is a simple matter of dispensing proper rewards and punishments. They can be forgiven for not knowing that this mistaken notion is only about 50 years old, prior to which people understood that while children should be taught that certain consequences follow certain behaviors, their discipline was not properly accomplished in that fashion, but rather through proper adult leadership.

LONG COUNTY - Think heart disease can't affect you? Think again. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women. In fact, one in four American women dies of heart disease every year. In 2006 in Long County alone four women died of cardiovascular disease.

The Liberty County Health Department received a 2009 grant from the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health to distribute child restraints and educational information to eligible parents.

The Coastal Health District is offering to help area residents buy hearing aids, and it's much needed help, according to Thomas Galey, executive director for the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired.

Articles by Section - Living well

When people say, “It is not a big deal,” one has to believe them. The problem is, with kids, a little deal may be a big deal. For that matter, who is to say what a big or a little deal is for grown-ups?

Many people shy away from strength training because of a pervasive stigma associated with it: Weight gain. All too often, we hear excuses for why people choose to avoid strength training: “I don’t want to bulk up” or “I don’t need to focus on weights.” However, strength training is an important part of anyone’s workout routine, regardless of gender, body size and fitness goals. In fact, the benefits are lifelong and can especially help as you age. Besides the fact that strength training can boost your metabolism by 15 percent, muscle is also a key component to ...

Life certainly dictates its own pace. As the demands of busy schedules pile up, it seems a good night's sleep is the first thing to go. The lack of adequate sleep knows no boundaries. Young people suffer from the same decline of proper sleeping habits as often as their parents. And in an effort to compensate for lost time, the loss of sleep carries its own consequences. Sleep is essential not only to getting through daily life, but also improving the quality of it. Here are 3 reasons why a good night's sleep is worth your time.